Keventer to start production in Gujarat plant from December

Kolkata, Nov 10 (IANS) West Bengal-based agro-food processing firm Keventer Agro Ltd will begin production at its Gujarat plant next month, company chairman M.K. Jalan said here Monday.”The construction of the project in Gujarat is nearing completion. We’ll start production from December,” Jalan told reporters on the sidelines of a programme, Road Show on Vibrant Gujarat, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Keventer Agro, a part of Rs.12-billion Keventer Projects Ltd, had acquired the Rs.1.5-billion merchant food exporting unit in Gujarat last year. It’s now being upgraded to function as a 100-percent export-oriented-unit (EOU).

The unit, set up over 30 acres, is adjacent to the newly-shifted Tata Motors’ Nano unit at Sanand.

“The multi-product agro-processing facility will have a capacity of producing 40,000 tonnes annually,” Jalan said, adding this is Keventer’s first venture in Gujarat’s agro-processing sector.

Currently, Keventer’s dairy and agro-products businesses contribute close to Rs.4 billion to the total group turnover.

The Indian food market is estimated to be around Rs.2,500 billion ($69.4 billion), and value-added food products Rs.800 billion ($22.2 billion). It is expected to double by 2020.

“We’re also in talks with a $20-billion foreign company to explore a joint venture in the ready-to-eat food segment in India. The foreign partner is now doing a location study and the unit is likely to be in Gujarat,” Jalan said.

“The investment would be something between Rs.70-80 million in the joint venture. But I can’t disclose the name of the foreign firm or any other details related to the project, as everything is now under process,” he said.

He said the joint venture would cater to both domestic and international markets.